


Asking Will

by CodenameIanto



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Gen, Halt is mortified, Halt tries to ask Will a question, Will is oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 12:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2692586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CodenameIanto/pseuds/CodenameIanto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Halt valiantly attempts to ask an oblivious Will about his plan to propose to Lady Pauline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Asking Will

Will had just finished the interlude between verses of “Old Joe Smoke” on his mandola when the door to the cabin swung open. He’d been concentrating on getting the driving rhythm correct and hadn’t heard the footsteps on the porch. As Halt stepped inside, Will hastily switched to a different song. A rather unfortunate parody of “Old Joe Smoke” entitled “Greybeard Halt” had resulted in an uncomfortable night spent up a tree for Will in his third year of apprenticeship.  


Halt was not deaf, but he was very distracted. Will received only a scathing look from the taciturn Ranger as he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the wooden table opposite his apprentice. “Will, I’ve got something to ask you,” Halt said, finding something of vast interest in his mug of coffee.  


“Of course, Halt. What is it?” asked Will, puzzled. Although the older Ranger was definitely grim-faced, Will hadn’t seen him look this uncomfortable since his horse, Abelard, had taken an interest in a lovely mare up at Redmont Castle. “Is something wrong?” Before answering, Halt fidgeted with his saxe knife for a moment.  


“No, nothing’s wrong. I was just, uh…wondering what you thought of Lady Pauline,” Halt informed the ceiling beams. Taken back at the sudden question, Will thought about it. He put away his mandola and poured himself another cup of coffee, adding liberal amounts of honey.  


“I like her. She’s dignified without being pompous, not afraid of work, and very gracious. Alyss loves her. Every time I see her, it’s ‘Pauline says this’ and ‘Lady Pauline taught me that.’ Why do you ask?” Will added as an afterthought.  


“Well, actually…” Halt trailed off. But he was never one to abandon a mission before it was done, and he knew that Will deserved to have a say in this. Halt took a deep breath and bravely forged on. “You probably know that your final assessment is coming up in about 8 months. After that, you’ll be a full-fledged Ranger with your own fief.” Halt paused. This was the moment of truth. If he could help defeat Morgarath (twice!), assist in killing the two menacing Kalkara, dispatch the evil warlord Deparnieux, and fight off an entire Temujai invasion in Skandia, a foreign nation known for its pirates and raids on the Araluen coast, and then help write a mutually beneficial treaty for both Araluen and Skandia, he could certainly do this.  


“You know how I’ve been seeing a lot of Lady Pauline lately?” Halt asked, abruptly changing the subject. “Well, I wanted to ask you for your permission. To, you know, ask her…” Halt gestured helplessly. Conversations about feelings were not his strong suit. Will, of course, was as oblivious as ever.  


“Ask her what, Halt?” Will was astonished to see- was that a blush?!?- creeping up his mentor’s cheeks. Halt finally exploded.  


“Gorlog’s beard, Will!” Halt swore, invoking his favorite Skandian god. “Could you be any more oblivious? To ask her to marry me, for Odin’s sake!”  


Will gaped wordlessly at him. He would have been sure Halt was joking, except Halt would never joke about something like this, and his agitation and embarrassment was clearly real. But Halt, the universally acknowledged grim, solitary curmudgeon, living with his apprentice in his little hermitage in the woods, marry? The idea alone was absurd.  


Halt was probably blathering on about his reasoning now, trying desperately to avoid words like “heart”, “commitment”, and Gorlog forbid, “love”. Will realized he should probably feel some sort of joy, excitement, happiness, or perhaps a little anxiety, disappointment, or resentment. For the time being, he was far too flabbergasted to even consider any emotion other than pure shock. It felt rather like that jarring sensation when one walks down a familiar staircase, occupied with other things, only to realize very suddenly that there is not, in fact, another stair. All of a sudden, the very planets are out of alignment and you, confused and mildly disgruntled, are left sitting on the unforgiving ground with a new backache, wondering how in the world you got there.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first fic, so apologies for any issues. Hope you enjoyed it! Also, Ranger's Apprentice is obviously not owned by me. Do I sound like John Flanagan?


End file.
